‘MY SON GREW IN MY MUM’S UTERUS’
Thanks to a medical miracle and her selfless mother, Kirsty was finally able to add to her family
Kirsty Bryant gazes down at the cherubfaced baby cradled in her arms, a surge of overwhelming love coursing through her.
“Henry is perfect,” she whispers softly, her heart swelling with gratitude for the miracle that brought him into her life.
Born on 15 December, Henry is the embodiment of Kirsty’s deepest desires and dreams. His arrival marked a milestone, not just for Kirsty and her husband Nick, 32, but for medical science – he is Australia’s first baby born to a mother with a donated uterus.
“It’s the best thing ever that I now carry the womb that I grew in,” Kirsty, 31, tells Woman’s Day of the uterus donated by her mother Michelle Hayton, 55, just 11 months before she gave birth. “On the morning of the transplant surgery, I said, ‘Thank you so much, Mum.’”
The operation was complex and lasted a marathon 16 hours, with mother and daughter in parallel theatres.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully repay her, but two nights before Henry was born, Nick and I told her that we were naming our baby Henry Nicholas Michelle Bryant,” says Kirsty, who is from Coffs Harbour, New South Wales. “She burst into tears.”
Kirsty’s motherhood journey has been nothing short of extraordinary, not just with
Henry, but also with his older sister Violet, three, whose arrival triggered a life-threatening bleed and an emergency hysterectomy.
“I was told I’d never be able to have children again,” says Kirsty, admitting she’s yet to unpack the trauma of that day. “There are unresolved feelings. At the time, I had a little baby to look after and was too focused on finding a way to get pregnant again.”
Refusing to let her dreams be dashed by the limitations of her body, the new mum found her way to a clinical trial and was offered the opportunity to undergo groundbreaking uterus transplant surgery.
At that point, fewer than 100 transplants had been performed worldwide. But after two rounds of IVF, an embryo became Henry.
Aside from a bout of gestational diabetes at the 20-week mark, Kirsty had a no-fuss, textbook pregnancy, which she puts down to her mum’s “great” uterus.
“It knows exactly what to do,” she laughs. “From the moment I got the womb, it felt like it was meant to be there. It’s a life-maker.”
When Henry made his long-awaited entrance into the world at Sydney’s Royal Hospital for Women – “It was the perfect C-section” – the entire medical team wept with joy, as did Michelle, who was in the operating theatre too.
“The room was filled with joy and love,” shares Michelle. “It was a culmination of the entire journey and a testament to the enduring power of family bonds.”
Holding gorgeous Henry in her arms, Kirsty knew that every moment of struggle and uncertainty had been worth it.
“The euphoria, after thinking I’d never be able to have another child, was amazing,” she says. “For me, it was love at first sight and I felt I could
‘After thinking I’d never have another child, it was amazing’
go through it all again.”
Now, several months after Henry’s arrival, Kirsty is grappling with a decision that is weighing heavily on her heart. The new mum needs to decide this month about what to do with her remaining embryos.
“Initially, I would have said yes to a third pregnancy,” she says. “But now I’m about 50:50 and feel too hormonal to make a call. The process is very tough on your body. My husband is happy to leave it at two children, but I’m not sure.”
The donated uterus also has a use-by date as the immunosuppressive drugs Kirsty needs cannot be taken indefinitely.
“In five years, I’m up for my second hysterectomy
– not many women get to say that. If I could keep Mum’s uterus, I would.”
Nestled contentedly in his mother’s arms, Henry is none the wiser. One day, he’ll be told of the fight for his existence.
“But,” chuckles Kirsty, “he’ll probably roll his eyes and say, ‘That’s gross, Mum!’ I think he’s going to be a cruisy, easy-going little man, just like his dad.”